Brits Use Vending Machines to Distribute Methadone in Prisons

Inmates in 140 British prisons will eventually get their daily methadone dosage via a vending machine.

Candy bar, chips, cola...methadone; decisions, decisions…

British inmates may find their vending machines stocked up
with an extra little something in the months to come as the Labour government implements
a 4 million pound scheme to install methadone vending machines in roughly half
of all prisons, nationwide. So far, machines are in place in 57 of a planned
140 prisons.

The machines are used to administer the opiate substitution
medication to prisoners who have been assessed as opiate dependent and who
would benefit from the substitution therapy. Supplying methadone to inmates
reduces levels of illicit opiate use in prisons and helps opiate addicts manage
their dependency.

To ensure that the medication is not diverted, the methadone
vending machines will require a biometric identification, through the use of a retinal
iris scan or a fingerprint, before they will dispense a day’s medication.

Although opposition politicians have ridiculed the vending
machines, a Department of Health spokesperson defended their use, saying, “Methadone
dispensers are a safe and secure method for providing a prescribed treatment.
They can only be accessed by the person who has been clinically assessed as
needing methadone and that person is recognized by a biometric marker, such as
their iris.”

Opposition MP, Dominic Grieve, lambasted the plan, saying, “We
need to get prisoners off all drug addiction -- not substitute one dependency
for another. The government's approach of trying to 'manage' addiction is an
admission of failure…The public will be shocked that Ministers are spending
more on methadone vending machines than the entire budget for abstinence based
treatments."

Although methadone is proven the most effective treatment
for the management of opiate addiction, its use has always prompted controversy.
Abstinence treatments for heroin addiction have shown very little long term
efficacy, but tend to be an easier political sell.

Think you know methadone? Be careful, because a lot of what’s passed as common knowledge about this controversial medication has little basis in fact. Here are 8 common methadone myths exposed and debunked.